Aaltola Mika - Geo-economics and power politics in the 21st century the revival of economic statecraft

Geo-Economics and Power Politics in the 21st Century

Starting from the key concept of geo-economics, this book investigates the new power politics and argues that the changing structural features of the contemporary international system are recasting the strategic imperatives of foreign policy practice.

States increasingly practise power politics by economic means. Whether it is about Irans nuclear programme or Russias annexation of Crimea, Western states prefer economic sanctions to military force. Most rising powers have also become cunning agents of economic statecraft. China, for instance, is using finance, investment and trade as means to gain strategic influence and embed its global rise. Yet the way states use economic power to pursue strategic aims remains an under-studied topic in International Political Economy and International Relations. The contributions to this volume assess geo-economics as a form of power politics. They show how power and security are no longer simply coupled to the physical control of territory by military means, but also to commanding and manipulating the economic binds that are decisive in todays globalised and highly interconnected world. Indeed, as the volume shows, the ability to wield economic power forms an essential means in the foreign policies of major powers. In so doing, the book challenges simplistic accounts of a return to traditional, military-driven geopolitics, while not succumbing to any unfounded idealism based on the supposedly stabilising effects of interdependence on international relations. As such, it advances our understanding of geo-economics as a strategic practice and as an innovative and timely analytical approach.

This book will be of much interest to students of security studies, international political economy, foreign policy and International Relations in general.

Mikael Wigell is Senior Research Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs and Adjunct Professor in International Political Economy at the University of Tampere, Finland.

Sren Scholvin is Research Fellow at the Institute of Economic and Cultural Geography, University of Hanover, Germany.

Mika Aaltola is Director of the Global Security Programme at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. He also works as Professor of International Relations at Tallinn University, Estonia.

Routledge Global Security Studies

Series Editors: Aaron Karp and Regina Karp

Global Security Studies emphasizes broad forces reshaping global security and the dilemmas facing decision-makers the world over. The series stresses issues relevant in many countries and regions, accessible to broad professional and academic audiences as well as to students, and enduring through explicit theoretical foundations.

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Patrick McEachern and Jaclyn OBrien McEachern

Stable Nuclear Zero

The Vision and its Implications for Disarmament Policy

Edited by Sverre Lodgaard

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The Case for Restraint

Edited by A. Trevor Thrall and Benjamin H. Friedman

US National Security Reform

Reassessing the National Security Act of 1947

Edited by Heidi B. Demarest and Erica D. Borghard

Geo-Economics and Power Politics in the 21st Century

The Revival of Economic Statecraft

Edited by Mikael Wigell, Sren Scholvin and Mika Aaltola

For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Global-Security-Studies/book-series/RGSS

First published 2019

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Wigell, Mikael, editor. | Scholvin, Soren, editor. |

Aaltola, Mika, editor.

Title: Geo-economics and power politics in the 21st century : the revival of economic statecraft / edited by Mikael Wigell, Soren Scholvin, and Mika Aaltola.

Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2018. | Series:

Routledge global security studies | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018012150| ISBN 9780815397304 (hardback) |

ISBN 9781351172288 (e-book)

Subjects: LCSH: International economic relationsPolitical aspects. | Balance of powerEconomic aspects. | GeopoliticsEconomic aspects. | International relationsEconomic aspects.

Classification: LCC HF1359 .G4695 2018 | DDC 337dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018012150

ISBN: 978-0-8153-9730-4 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-351-17228-8 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman

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Mika Aaltola is Program Director of the Global Security Research Programme at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) and Professor of International Relations at Tallinn University, Estonia.

Pavel K. Baev is a Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). He is also Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, and Senior Associate Fellow at the Institut Franaise des Relations Internationales (IFRI), Paris.

Braz Baracuhy is Deputy-Director for Policy Planning at the Office of the Brazilian Foreign Minister, Braslia.

Christian O. Fjder is a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) and Director of Policy, Planning and Analysis at the National Emergency Supply Agency, Finland.

Bart Gaens is a Senior Research Fellow at the Global Security Research Program and Project Director for the Center on US Politics and Power at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) in Helsinki. He is also Adjunct Professor at the University of Helsinki, and Specially-Appointed Associate Professor at the University of Osaka.